there'll be nae cries o misery jist the creakin soun o openin doors - Read these poems and be inspired. In the wake of the 1979 Devolution Referendum, followed by the impact of Thatcherite policies on Scottish society, many Scottish writers and intellectuals began articulating the distinctiveness of Scottish literary, cultural, social and political traditions and outlooks. Some joined popular political campaigns, from opposing the Poll-Tax and Trident to the Campaign for a Scottish Assembly, which led to a Scottish Parliament. Many now look forward to new possibilities for the future with more confidence in the value and importance of our country's culture and politics, as these poems reveal. Whatever the outcome of Scotland's Independence Referendum on 18 September 2014, a better Scotland is possible. Across every aspect of life in Scotland - housing, inequality, life expectancy, health, education, crime, sectarianism, localism and more - we all know that a better Scotland is possible. And then there's Trident. And the Bedroom Tax. And the Democratic Deficit. And on it goes.

The Social Work Act of 1968 in Scotland set out to replace Victorian prisons, lunatic asylums and orphanages, and challenge the Poor Law mentalities which had built and sustained them for generations. With the aid of a wide professional career, football tactics, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Marxism, and wit, Alistair Findlay reveals the buzz, vitality and inner dynamic of the frontline of Scottish social work in the first memoir written by someone who works in the service. His poetry collection, Dancing With Big Eunice, also inspired by his social work, was acclaimed by Bob Holman, who said: 'He conveys its sweat, its smell, its reality. He understands both its trivia and its enormity.'

Alistair Findlay's compilation of poems about social work shows the reader that the world they are living in is often shaped by poverty. Not much has been written about the stories that fill social worker's lives, and Findlay offers sad, sometimes absurd, insights. He creates poems for everyone who wants to know what goes on behind closed doors.

This is the first collection of Scots poetry devoted entirely to football. It includes many of 20th century Scotland's best known poets, from Hugh MacDiarmid to Norman MacCaig, Iain Crichton Smith to Jackie Kay. Ranging from the historic aspect, in the 1580 poem, The Bewteis of the Fute-ball, or Stewart Conn's The Barber-Surgeons to King James IV, to the gleeful thrilling violence of a good kicking, as in Song of the Sub-Welshian, to the unending frustration of supporting Scotland, this brilliant collection sums up the best and the worst of football spirit.

Alistair Findlay, author of the acclaimed Shale Voices, takes a measured look at those three most important facets of life - sex, death, and of course football. Football has never been a science so much as a heartbeat away from a sclaf, an unlucky bobble, catastrophe - a bit like Sex and Death - and thus a suitable case for poetry. - ALISTAIR FINDLAY Showing great individuality, energy and wit, Findlay creates 'elegies - with edge' in this accessible and uncompromising collection. With his ear for natural human expression and appetite for life, he succeeds in crafting poetry teeming with both humanity and humour. His poems bridge the gap between perceptions of 'high' and popular culture, and tackle with rare insight the breadth of human experience, both sacred and profane.

there’ll be nae cries o misery jist the creakin soun o openin doors Read these poems and be inspired. In the wake of the 1979 Devolution Referendum, followed by the impact of Thatcherite policies on Scottish society, many Scottish writers and intellectuals began articulating the distinctiveness of Scottish literary, cultural, social and political traditions and outlooks. Some joined popular political campaigns, from opposing the Poll-Tax and Trident to the Campaign for a Scottish Assembly, which led to a Scottish Parliament. Many now look forward to new possibilities for the future with more confidence in the value and importance of our country’s culture and politics, as these poems reveal. Whatever the outcome of Scotland’s Independence Referendum on 18 September 2014, a better Scotland is possible. Across every aspect of life in Scotland – housing, inequality, life expectancy, health, education, crime, sectarianism, localism and more – we all know that a better Scotland is possible. And then there’s Trident. And the Bedroom Tax. And the Democratic Deficit. And on it goes.

Acclaimed poet Alastair Findlay looks beneath the museum information card to consider the truth of the object before it came to be museum-worthy. Juxtaposing his own short poems with information labels and pictures of some of the most celebrated artefacts and artworks from museums around Scotland, Findlay gives these objects a voice.

From local legend, newspaper reports and family history, Alistair Findlay has pieced together a comprehensive documentary of Scotland's shale mining industry; of the people, communities and generations of families involved, and the cultural and political impact of the industry. Enlivened throughout with numerous photographs, drawings, poetry and short stories, this incredible history of human courage, endurance and endeavour will appeal to any reader with an interest in Scotland's social and cultural history.